


No Laughing Matter

by Noir_Fox



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Craw the crow, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, I'm Bad At Summaries, Like girl there's a limit, MarieLynn is way too supportive, My First Work in This Fandom, Romance, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), Year One Backstory, and tagging, domestic life, more tags will be added, no beta we die like men, starling - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24936439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noir_Fox/pseuds/Noir_Fox
Summary: MarieLynn met Jonathan through simple means in the Gotham University library, but after seeing her unusual reaction to his fear toxin Jonathan knew he couldn't keep her at arms' length for very long. She's been a gift to him, a gentle soul to help him heal, but how far is she willing to go for him and his dream?This will be a series of short little stories about the relationship MarieLynn and Jonathan share through the span of years, and timeline specific hints will be peppered into the stories themselves. I am super open to cute ideas in the comments!
Relationships: Jonathan Crane/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Sweet Nights/Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr is @our-pastel-queen if you want to follow or suggest any chapter ideas there! I also share a bunch of scarecrow related things so check it out if you need your fix.
> 
> Also the first few chapters were written MONTHS ago when I was writing academic papers at the same time, so if they seem a little clunky that's just from my single brain-cell being stuck between academia and fluffy fan fiction.

Sometimes MarieLynn has to go down to the lab to make sure he’s still himself. It’s not very often that she does this, but after he hits the 16 hour mark of not coming out she takes it upon herself to check on him. With a soft throw blanket wrapped around her shoulders she looks at the digital clock on her desk.  _ 11:47 pm _ . 

“Guess I should go drag him to bed,” she thought while pushing herself away from her glowing computer screen. She needed to go to bed too, and she’d be damned if there was going to be another night without him sleeping properly next to her.

The apartment building wasn't the biggest, so when the landlord heard Jonathan’s offer of paying extra in order to have space in the basement to work in they jumped on the opportunity. Only the two of them had a key to the little “lab” down there, and they made sure to live close to the elevator for easy access. While going down to the basement level Lynn couldn’t help letting a yawn escape her. “Maybe I should stay up less too…” she muttered just before the elevator stopped at the basement floor. 

Using the flashlight on her phone, due to her own laziness of not wanting to turn on the lights, she traversed the mudroom area before coming to a worn out, green, wooden door. A few quick knocks were given out of necessity, but when she heard no answer a soft sigh left her lips. Sticking the key in and unlocking the door she quietly stepped inside. All was dimly lit in the room, with only one small overhead light to brighten the room. She thought it was a miracle that his eyes weren’t worse off than they already were. 

MarieLynn stepped over to a small table on the other side of the room, where she found him slumped over on the desk, head resting on his crossed arms. His reddish-brown hair was a little mussed up, presumably from running his hands through it, and his glasses were off to the side of his left arm. She’d be lying if she said the sight wasn’t somewhat cute, it was rare to see him so peaceful while down here. Of course, she would never say that to Jonathan, he would protest it too much. 

With a bit of hesitation she put her hand carefully on his right shoulder, trying to make sure she didn’t startle him. When he didn’t really move she gave a gentle nudge and spoke quietly “Jonathan, c’mon hon” before she could even finish she heard a short startled gasp come from the taller man. “It’s okay Jon, you need to come up to sleep,” she coaxed, hoping her words would calm him from his awakening. 

After a few seconds he raised his head to meet her gaze, his own blue eyes showing drowsiness while her face wore a calm and soothing smile. He soon rested his head against her shoulder and muttered something she couldn’t make out. “What was that, sleepy? You gotta speak up,” she teases while running a hand through his mussed up reddish hair.

“I’m still not close enough,” he muttered again, his voice sounding rough with sleep “I’m not finished yet, Lynn”

“Well you’re finished for tonight,” she asserted, taking a step back so he’d sit up again. Lynn grabbed his glasses from the table and handed them to him as she spoke.“You’ve been down here too long, it's time to go up.” 

She watched him sit up and rub his eyes before slipping on his glasses. He seemed a little dazed, his eyes looking somewhat blurry, but overall he was much more alert than she anticipated. With another rough mumble he spoke again, “Please tell me I don’t have to lecture tomorrow.”

She fought back a giggle as she replied “Well, it just passed midnight so  _ technically _ you have to lecture in the morning.”

“They wouldn’t mind a day off would they?”   
“Remember you told me that if you ever wanted to cancel class to smack you?” she remarked with a sly smirk. Before he could respond with more than a grumpy expression she draped the throw blanket that was previously occupying her shoulders onto his own. “C’mon, if we go up now you can get some sleep and a shower before you have to go tomorrow. You need to see more than just these walls y’know.” 

He let out a sigh and got up from his table, keeping the blanket on his shoulders. She gently took his hand, feeling the stark temperature difference between the two of them, as she led him back over to the elevator. “We need to get some sort of heating for you down here, it’s not good to be so chilled for so long” she pouted, rubbing his hand in her own to warm him with some friction. 

He didn’t really answer with more than a nod as they got into the elevator and watched the doors close. While they ascended she laid her head against his arm, just below his shoulder. Wasn’t her fault he was so damn tall. 

Once they got back to the apartment she promptly pointed him in the direction of their bedroom while she walked off into the bathroom to brush her teeth. It only took her a few minutes to return, but by that time, Jonathan was already under their comforter, looking moments away from sleep yet again.

A soft smile found itself onto MarieLynn’s face as she gently took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand. She followed his lead, laying down on her side of the bed and snuggling under the blankets. A quiet “goodnight” was uttered and then she slowly closed her eyes, the happiness she felt rivaling something she couldn’t quite place.

These were the nights she enjoyed the most. 

_ Too bad his teaching days were numbered... _


	2. First Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, Lynn's now all up in his business, literally. 
> 
> Bold is scarecrow, simple italics are for good ol' Crane,

It was only supposed to be a quick pickup.   
The group was supposed to come meet him here, get the items they requested, give him what he requested, and both parties leave without conflict.

But then, well, Scarecrow caught a brief glint of fear and ran with it. 

While Jonathan was dealing with the racing thoughts in his mind he was also dealing with a physical threat. A physical threat dressed in all black and looking pretty pissed at the whole “we were about to sell fear toxin to the mob” thing. Add onto that he didn’t have a solid escape plan for when someone is standing in front of the only broken window that wouldn’t stab him in twenty places. He has a new recipe for fear, but this one is purely situational.

“ **_Maybe if you ask him nicely he’ll let you go?”_ **

**“** _ Very wise, maybe he’ll even give us prizes for being so polite- _ ”

Suddenly Crane found himself pinned against the wall by his throat cutting off his sarcastic thoughts, the caped menace suddenly very much in front of him. He glared from behind his mask, tried desperately to move out of the grip, but only the bat’s questions and Scarecrow’s noises of struggle filled the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned warehouse. 

It seemed the caped vigilante wanted answers to questions Scarecrow neither knew nor cared about. All he wanted to do was figure out why he had this sudden notion that Scarecrow would be connected to any other criminal activity. Well, except for fear-related things. He should probably take credit for  _ those  _ incidents. 

“ _ Don’t answer anything he asks” _

_ “ _ **_He’s not hearing a word from me unless its very colourful Jonny, you know that”_ **

His struggling only earned him a few rough shoves back up against the wall. The distance between the two masked men was not getting any wider. There were constant shifts in power between the two of them, but Scarecrow's lanky physique could only help him so much here.

Just as Scarecrow was fully able to “take control” of the situation there was a mechanical whirring sound from above the two men. It sounded as if one of the pulleys was being used, and the scratchy sound of rope echoed throughout the building. Scarecrow watched the bat look up as a blur of dark brown fabric and black boots collided with his side, knocking the bat away long enough to retrieve an aerosol can of toxin to let loose. As a low  _ hiss _ sound escaped from the canister on the ground between the two men and the cloaked figure. Scarecrow glanced over at the short figure who had “helped” him and took in their features quickly. They were crouched slightly from rolling after the kick, and covered in a deep brown cape that hooded up over their head. The material looked scratchy, almost like the burlap of his own mask, and there was a black bundle of fabric covering their face from the nose down past their neckline. 

“ _ That can’t be her…” _

With a huff the figure got up from the ground, their eyes very expressive from under the hood. Their dark green eyes were blown wide, pupils seemed to be more dilated than what they needed to be. They also let a soft giggle or two out, as if high from the surrounding area…

“ _ Damn it, it is her” _

**_“Oho i knew you kept Lynnie around for a reason!”_ **

_ “Don’t praise this! She’s not ready for this type of situation!” _

Scarecrow ran toward her, grabbing onto her thin arm and hurrying to the window. Although he desperately wanted to inquire as to what the Bat was seeing due to the toxin, Jonathan was nagging him to get her out of there while the two have a good chance of escaping. Her eyes held a proud gleam in them, but his own were a mixture of fury and exhilaration. The two escapees climbed through the busted out window carefully before running from the building.

Scarecrow tugged her along by her wrist for a good few miles before finally reaching the fire-escape near their apartment. She went up the ladder first, him quickly following her lead. Once up there, they could catch their breaths, and Jonathan could slowly start taking back over. 

After a few moments Lynn broke the silence, her speech still interrupted by quiet panting “I think we lost him.”

Jonathan felt rage boiling under the surface of his skin. He snatched his mask off and stormed toward her, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Why the hell did you think you could take him on?” he yelled at her, hoping nobody would come out onto the apartment rooftop to find the two in this position.

Jonathan could feel her body still shaking, whether from the adrenaline or the unique effects the toxin had on her, he couldn’t tell. One thing was for sure though, she looked just about on cloud nine. Lynn pulled her makeshift mouth cover down off her face and he could truly see the crooked smile splayed across her features as she answered. “Well I didn’t want you to get hurt, and I-I had a bad feeling about tonight’s deal. So I followed and waited on the catwalk.” Instead of letting him question her further she raised up her right arm slightly, letting him see her newest wardrobe addition. It was indeed made of the scratchy burlap material that he was so familiar with, but it was covering her from head to waist. The bottom of the “cape” was scalloped, making it look like she had wings straight from a child’s depiction of a bird. “Do you like the cape? I made it myself in case anything like this happens. I'm a bird now!” her last sentence was filled with faint giggling.

Jonathan sighed and a little bit of Scarecrow’s attitude was still laced in his voice, “You could have gotten hurt, this is no laughing matter Lynn” 

As the wind whipped around them she hugged the rough material to her arms, fighting back more giggling sounds. “I can’t help it,” she moved closer to him, leaning her head against his shoulder “this stuff is just so good”.

He huffed in annoyance before leading her toward the door for the staircase. Jonathan should have made sure she was asleep, or at least didn’t know where he was going before he left this time. But to be fair, he didn’t expect Lynn to be bold enough to follow him to the warehouse. She was usually so meek when it came to his new “business” strategy, she preferred it when he used to be a professor. At least then she knew he was safe in the University Chemistry labs. 

“You’re not supposed to get high off of the toxin Lynn,” he muttered, squinting at the bright light from the staircase “it’s called a ‘toxin’ for a reason.” 

“I didn’t  _ mean _ to breathe it in” she pouted, pulling up on the black mouth cover again “this fabric just wasn’t thick enough. I blame  _ hyde  _ for this”

“You weren’t supposed to be there.”

“We never said that.”

“It was heavily implied, now stop arguing with me. You need to go lay down.” He told her firmly as they reached their apartment door. He quickly unlocked the door and ushered her inside with some firm nudging. 

Her footsteps were very graceful and floaty while she went in, almost as if she was dancing to herself. Lynn’s hand clamped around his thin wrist to drag him inside along with her, while making sure he closed the door behind him. She pulled him toward her, probably to hug him, but he firmly put his hand on her collarbone and kept her at a distance. “Bed, now Lynn.”

She gave a pout before letting him lead her to the bedroom, motioning for her to lay on the side of the bed she claimed as her own. While sitting on the bed she took off the shawl, glancing over at Jonathan as he moved to leave her be “I wanna sleep with you tonight though” she muttered just loud enough to hear. He froze for a moment, before turning around and sighing. He slipped off his coat and let it slump against the chair by the doorway before coming back to the bed.

“Fine, I'll lay with you. Just to make sure you’re okay.” He crossed back over to her side of the bed and sat with her, gently putting a hand through her wavy black hair. She leaned her head against his hand and closed her eyes, smiling with serene happiness. The small action made his anger soften, but only slightly. He had to let her know he was serious, “We’re going to have a serious talk when you get the toxin out of your system, you know.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him with adortion evident in her jade orbs, even if they were a little cloudier than normal. There was a drowsiness to her actions when the toxin was in her system for this long, and this time was not any different. “But I was just worried about you Jonathan,” she pouted, cuddling up even more against his side, “I need you here with me.” 

If his anger was still there it was now fully masked with a sense of wonder at the short girl clung to his side. After all these years it still amazes him at how dedicated she is to his well-being. Even if he created what is essentially extreme exposure therapy in a formula and uses it against people, she still finds him worthy of such care. 

Instead of voicing his feelings, as usual, he moved to lay down with her and stay quiet. He knew that if he kept a conversation going with her she’d never get to sleep, no matter how drowsy she was. It wasn’t long before Lynn’s breathing steadied, and she fell into a deep sleep.

\--------------

He doesn't know when he fell asleep, only that he woke up without Lynn next to him. The black blanket on her side was still warm, and he could hear running water in the bathroom. Blearily getting up Jonathan made his way over and leaned by the open door, seeing a disheveled MarieLynn brushing her teeth. “I'm guessing you threw up again?”

She nodded and spit out into the sink, wiping her mouth. “Yea, and i feel like i got hit by a truck last night,” her response was drawn out and tired sounding, as if still in some twilight of consciousness. After moving a few steps toward him she let her head rest against his chest, black hair slipping out from behind her shoulder “remind me to never huff that stuff again, please.”

“You said that last time,” he muttered while pushing her hair back.

“Well remind me again.”

“Lynn,” He started out firmly, putting his hands on her shoulders. She didn’t even try to move back, so he took a step backwards instead, keeping her at arm's length “You can’t keep exposing yourself to the toxin like that. What if you take in too much? You said it yourself, you’re not ready for a fear response”

“Well that's because I wouldn't be expecting it,” she pouted, crossing her arms in a very childlike manner. “At least I know that if I specifically inhale some of that stuff it won’t make me scared, but if it starts to then I don't know how I’d handle it while im high as hell.”

“So don’t go exposing yourself to it.”

“But i was worried about you!”

Jonathan could feel his frustration with her coming through with his words, but he couldn't stop himself at this point. “Lynn, this is what I have to do for my research and you know that” he scolded, watching her mouth form from its pout to a slight frown. “You can’t simply wander after me without my knowledge.”

Before he could continue on she spoke up suddenly, “Then let me go with you, knowingly.” 

He paused, as if unable to believe what she just said. Lynn’s face of determination told him that she was serious, but his mind just couldn't comprehend her actually wanting to even  _ think _ about helping. “Staring is rude, Jonathan.” she smirked upward at him, putting one of her hands overtop his own.

“You can’t be serious,” he muttered out to her, seemingly only able to produce that thought out of his mouth. 

“Oh, but I am!” she exclaimed, seemingly gaining her energy back for that moment. “I already have a kinda costume, and nobody even knew I was there. I’m sneaky enough.” The wicked smile on her face was one of confidence and assurance, but Jonathan couldn’t help but try to shoot her down.

“The bat knows that someone saved me last night, he’s going to know you’re there.”

“So? He knows Scarecrow’s tactics by now but couldn’t capture you last night.”

“That’s because,” Jonathan’s retort to her died on its way out of his mouth as he realized exactly  _ why _ they weren’t caught last night. Lynn swooped in, literally, and managed to save the rogue from a one-way-ticket back to Arkham. 

“ _ Because _ he doesn’t know what I can do. Hell, even  _ I _ don’t know what I’ll do while I'm high off that stuff.” She moved around him, passing him by in the doorway to sit on the edge of their bed. Reaching down she picked up her scratchy shawl from the night before and spread it out over her lap, “besides, I thought a lot about this. If you have to do this type of work now to continue your research then I want to be by your side.” The look Lynn gave him when her eyes met his was one of blatant disregard for her own safety, but also determination. 

Jonathan let out a sigh and walked towards her, standing before her with crossed arms. He had to weigh out the options, and no matter how he thought of it she would truly be useful. He hated the idea of using her as bait, but if she wanted to do it was there truly a way to stop her? 

“On one condition,” his firm voice cut through their shared silence, “you have to stay away from Scarecrow while you’re out.” He saw a confused look flash across her face before he continued. “ I don’t want you getting dragged to Arkham, or the bat to get his hands on you at all.” He sat down next to her on the bed, rubbing the rough material of her costume between his fingers. “If captured, I want you to wait until the transport is done before leaving the scene. You’ll have to be quiet, and try not to breathe in any toxin unless needed,” he added before she could reply, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Okay, but it's going to be hard to just leave you to get captured you know.” 

“But you agree to those conditions?”

“I mean, if I  _ have _ to I will,” she replied, looking down at the fabric on her lap. “Only on the condition that if I do have to come save you or Hyde you will try your best to escape with me.”

“Of course, you think I want to get dragged off to that asylum?” The venom in his voice at the mere mention of Arkham struck her as strange for a moment, but she didn’t press him on it. 

“Maybe with me there you can escape more times than not.” 

They sat in comfortable silence after her comment, Jonathan seeming in deep thought. She watched as he closed his eyes and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose before replacing them back on his face. She waited a few moments before speaking softly “Penny for your thoughts?”

“You’re going to need a name,” he looked down at her garb yet again, focusing on the scalloped ends of the cape. “I'm guessing you want something bird-like?”

“Well of course!” Her eyes were beaming with something akin to pride, “A scarecrow always has birds around, don’t they?”

“Have you ever actually seen a real scarecrow?”

“Don’t ruin this for me Jonathan.”

“Fine, continue”

She let out a soft huff in annoyance, but continued regardless. “I thought of something common, that doesn’t migrate during winter.”

He truly tried to not cut her off again, but her reasoning needed more explanation. “Why the part about migration? Nobody is surely going to care if you’re active in winter.”

Lynn’s face flared up in a faint pink tint as she looked down at her lap yet again. Her hands fidgeted with the coarse material of her shawl, voice soft with nervousness. “Well,” she began slowly “It’s because I’ll always be helping you, no matter what. Plus I’m kinda small, so I went for a tiny bird as well.”

Jonathan stayed quiet, not only surprised by her honesty to the “migration” detail, but also with how much thought she had put into picking this. Truly, if he had a nickel for every time he was surprised by her support his research would be funded without the crime aspect.

“I chose ‘starling’ and am kinda proud of it,” she finally looked up at him, and he couldn’t help but to laugh internally.

“You thought this through so much, and yet were uncertain if I’d even allow you to come with me?”

“Writer’s need to think of  _ everything  _ when plotlines are involved.”

“Lynn, this isn’t a novel.”

“Oi it’s still applicable here!” she whined, her voice pitch-y and resembling a moody teen. “You’d be surprised at how often my job is useful.”

He was somewhat enjoying teasing her in the moment, so he chose to pick apart another factoid from her chosen alias. “That's all well and good, ms author, but you do know some starlings migrate, correct?” 

A defined pout found itself etched onto her face “Shush, don’t ruin this for me.” Lynn seemed to finally be out of steam, still worn out from the toxin, and laid herself down on the bed behind the tall scientist. He glanced back at her, noting that she looked more alert, but still a tad paler than usual. 

Before he could stop himself his hand found its way to her hair yet again, reveling in how soft it was. “You should get back to sleep, you probably still have traces left in your system.”

Letting out a huff of laughter Lynn threw her hands up above her on the bed, as if reaching for the ceiling. “You’d think I would’ve tossed it all up, but no, of course not.”

“This is why you dont breathe in the toxin, Lynn.”

“I'm still blaming scarecrow”

“Go to bed,” Jonathan concluded their little back and forth just as quickly as it started. Getting up from the bed to go back to his work. He could hear her mutter something to him, but the words were lost in the mess of blankets she quickly cocooned herself into. While looking back into the room all he saw next to the lump of blankets was her new identity laid on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one will either be more backstory with Lynn's reaction to the toxin, or something about a special crow this fandom is lacking in. If you wish, vote in the comments on which one you wanna see next!!


	3. Chapter 3 [pt. 1] New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fun little surprise awaits MarieLynn, she honestly should've known better than to leave their house guest there with Jon.

Jonathan didn’t ask for much in their relationship. He was king of low expectations when it came to other people, the only reason MarieLynn held his interest was because she has proven to be loyal. So, she shouldn’t mind this, right?  
He sat there at the tiny dining table they had in the corner of their apartment kitchen, mind racing with various thoughts to somehow convince Lynn that this was a good idea. She would enjoy it, right? It’d be their first time concerning this area, but she’s always up for new experiences. He didn’t know how she’d react to this sudden request. This was unlike him, wasn’t it? He was usually so sure of himself! But what can he do if she declines? He can’t return this! He let out a soft noise of distress, burying his head in his hands.  
All of a sudden, the source of his newfound anxiety started tapping its little feet against the worn out wooden surface. He reached out a gentle, slightly wavering, hand to give it some attention.   
Just as the front door was unlocked, the bird let out a soft “caw” noise, making Jonathan want to crawl into a hole.  
“Jonathan? What the hell was that?” MarieLynn called out, her voice holding a laugh toward the end of her question. She sounded, amused?   
The rustling of grocery bags told him she was getting closer, causing him to swiftly get up. The chair just barely made a scratching noise as he clasped his hands behind his back, suddenly forgetting how to look “natural”. He glanced behind him to ensure the new menace was hidden by his body before focusing his attention onto MarieLynn.  
“They were out of that brand of tea we usually get, but I got a different one to,” she cut herself off as she caught a glance at him, placing her bags on the counter.   
She didn’t normally let things slide passed her, so he knew it was only a matter of time. Before she could open her mouth to ask him another question. “Lynn, I have a bit of a,” he paused, trying to place his words carefully "‘favour’ to ask?”  
With a mischievous smirk on her face she crossed her sweater-clad arms, “Oh? And what would that be?”  
Jonathan couldn’t believe how amused she looked. Her eyes glimmered with something that he only usually sees when she outsmarts someone, or when she finds the perfect twist to add to her writings. There isn’t a single time that this gaze has ever been directed on him.   
Except for now  
It was a sensation he was not comfortable with.   
This sensation of being the canary caught by her, the devious cat.   
He took a deep, slightly wavering, breath while reminding himself internally that she would never hurt him. She was just simply amused, that's all.   
“Well, you see, Jervis had come by and…” he trailed off for a brief moment, which gave the troublemaker behind him it's time to shine.  
A loud and echoing “Caw” rang out through the small apartment, causing Marielynn to jump a step back in surprise.   
Jonathan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “She can’t let me explain myself now can she?”  
“She? Jonathan, you brought a bird here?”  
“Jervis found her and wouldn’t let me say no!” he exclaimed, the young crow hopping around on the table behind him. “He said it hadn’t migrated and that it was ‘perfect for me’ and just left her here!”  
It was MarieLynn’s turn to let out a sigh of her own, trying to not find the small crow hopping around on the table cute. “Damn hatter,” she grumbled under her breath, suddenly regretting leaving the two men alone while she went to the store. Normally she trusted the small blonde man in their apartment to not do anything too bad, but this? Well, sometimes he could be impulsive. “Wait,” she paused, taking in Jonathan’s unusual demeanor “aren’t you not really good with crows, Jon?” 

Although her voice was soft he still had to stave off a flinch from her question. It was true, he found crows to be the source of many past traumas, as the scars on his back could testify. Of course Lynn would catch on to this. He should have expected her to deduce it quickly. He looks back at the small crow on the table while she quizzically looks between the couple, not sure as to which person she should focus on. The creature was innocent, had no earthly idea as to the trauma Jonathan had endured. This was what probably made him feel just the tiniest bit more comfortable with this particular corvid. “Jervis said that he knows I want to get past my fears, and this one is small, almost harmless,” Jonathan explained, hoping she wouldn’t press matters.  
“I guess if he thought so strongly about this it could go either really poorly or really well given his track record,” she tried joking to lighten the mood. Soon she began shrugging off her winter coat before a thought suddenly seemed to strike her. “Wait a damn minute, aren’t crows illegal to keep as pets?”  
Jonathan simply shrugged.   
“I mean,” she muttered out after what seemed like an eternity “In for a penny in for a pound right? This isn’t the most illegal thing you’ve ever done here. Hell she came from the Mad Hatter himself it's not like we went out of our way to take it in.” Her words were ended with soft laughter that calmed his anxieties a little. Lynn reached out and held out her hand to the small crow with a gentleness to the action.  
The feathered pet at first shied away from the foreign person's hand, but Lynn stayed firm with her hand outstretched. Soon enough the aviary friend nudged her hand with quizzical curiosity. Lynn’s soft giggling was something Jonathan heard often, but this time it seemed gentler. His thoughts quickly came to one conclusion, which he spoke freely. “You’re a fan of birds, aren’t you?”   
Her posture stiffened just enough for his keen eye to notice. The way her back twitched gave him all the knowledge he needed to continue. “I’m guessing you were trying to be sensitive to my fears and never brought it up.” He turned and put a firm hand on her back, faintly reveling in her emotional response to being “caught”.  
It took her only a brief moment to face him, almost as if she didn’t want to take her eyes off the small crow. When she finally spoke up her cheeks had a faint pink tinge to them, and her jade colored eyes darted elsewhere in the room, not in his direction. “I just didn’t want to bring it up if I didn’t have to, that’s all.”  
He fought back the urge to simply drop the subject, knowing that she was sure to get him back in some way. Oh, but catching Lynn off guard like this was always just too sweet to pass up. “Oh? Is that really all there is to it?”   
His hand on her back was gently nudged away by MarieLynn’s own hand as she turned to face him fully. For a moment, she seemed pensive, but then she suddenly turned playful. “C’mon Jon, why not just focus our energy on our new ‘pet’? We need to give ‘her’ a name and place to stay after all.”   
Normally deflection didn’t do her any good, however she did have a point. They both looked back at the bird on the table, the small crow having no idea of how much work would need to be done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been a while, but pandemic hit hard. I won't be able to promise regular updates instead I will just hope to be at least once a month. Trust me, MarieLynn still lives in my brain rent free she's not going anywhere yet :D


End file.
